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By a slim 52 - 43 percent majority, Pennsylvania voters support the decision to fire Penn State
football coach Joe Paterno, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. By a much
larger 74 - 13 percent margin, voters support the firing of University President Graham Spanier.

There is no gender gap in voter reaction to either firing, the independent Quinnipiac
(KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds. Voters with a college degree support the Paterno firing
63 - 32 percent while voters without a degree are split 47 - 47 percent. White Protestants
oppose the firing 49 - 44 percent while white Catholics support it 52 - 45 percent.

There are no such divisions over the firing of President Spanier.

Football has too much influence at Penn State, 65 percent of Pennsylvania voters say.
Another 4 percent say "not enough influence" and 25 percent say "about the right amount of
influence." Feelings are about the same among all groups.

But voters say 67 - 18 percent that it's a "bad idea" for Penn State to decline a bowl bid.
Again there is agreement among all groups.

"University presidents come and go, but Joe Paterno...

"Pennsylvania voters have more love for the legendary football coach than for Graham
Spanier, but they agree that Joe must go," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac
University Polling Institute.

"By a large majority, Pennsylvanians feel there is too much emphasis on the football
program at Penn State. Clearly the scandal has shaken the university to its foundations and may
forever reshape its football program despite the clear indication from our polling that
Pennsylvanians don't want the players or team penalized."

"A large majority feel that Penn State should play in a bowl game, despite a call for a one
year 'death penalty' for the vaunted program," Malloy added.

Voters say 48 - 42 percent that the state should not financially compensate the alleged
victims if Sandusky is found guilty. Women are divided 44 - 46 percent on whether to pay the
victims while men oppose payment 49 - 40 percent. Voters making less than $30,000 per year
support payments 51 - 38 percent, but opposition to payments is 50 - 42 percent among voters
making $30,000 to $50,000, 54 - 37 percent among voters making $50,000 to $100,000 and
51 - 41 percent among voters making more than $100,000.

"The Penn State scandal is the biggest story in the Keystone State, but it apparently has
not affected how voters view their first-year governor," Malloy said.

From November 28 - December 5, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,453 registered
voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and
cell phones.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public
opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, Virginia
and the nation as a public service and for research.
For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or
follow us on Twitter.

13. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Tom Corbett is handling his job as Governor?

35c. How closely have you been following news about the child sex abuse case involving former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky? Would you say you have been following it very closely, somewhat closely, not too closely, or not at all?